Meanings
plural pyroclastic density currents
- a pyroclastic flow; a gas-rich, hot, dense, ground-hugging torrent of ash, lapilli, and volcanic blocks that results from the gravitational collapse of a volcanic eruption column, associated with explosive plinian and ultraplinian volcanic eruptions, and which produces a type of volcaniclastic deposit called an ash-flow tuff or an ignimbrite.
Synonyms: PDC, pyroclastic flow, pyroclastic surge
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna pyroclastic flow; a gas-rich, hot, dense, ground-hugging torrent of ash, lapilli, and volcanic blocks that results from the gravitational collapse of a volcanic eruption column, associated with explosive plinian and ultraplinian volcanic eruptions, and which produces a type of volcaniclastic deposit called an ash-flow tuff or an ignimbrite.
Cite this entry
pyroclastic density current. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroclastic%20density%20current
“pyroclastic density current.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroclastic%20density%20current. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pyroclastic density current,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroclastic%20density%20current.
Source: pyroclastic density current on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.